Gothumai Alwa

Okay, first things first. We call it alwa, not 'Halwa'. Now that, that is clear, we can move on to the recipe.

Have to mention my aunt Mrs Kamakshi and my cousin Priya for making this alwa along with me on skype and showing recipe, step by step! Thank you both :)

This recipe makes about 2 cups of alwa. 

You need whole wheat for this. It's called 'samba gothumai' in Tamil. It's available in the Indian stores as 'Haleem Wheat'. I don't like alwa made out of wheat flour. 

Whole wheat 1/2 cup

Water 3 and 1/2 cup water (basically 7 times whole wheat)

Sugar 1 and 1/4 cup+ 1/8th of a cup ( if you like it sweeter, make it 1 and 1/2 cup sugar)

Ghee 1 cup ghee ( keep a bit more handy)

Cardamom 1/2 teaspoon

The first step is to soak the whole wheat overnight. 

Drain the soaked wheat.

Go ahead and grind the water and the soaked wheat in your wet grinder if you have one, for at least 45 minutes to an hour. 

If you don't have a wet grinder, you can use your blender or mixie to do this. Just make sure it's super smooth.

Prepare the tray you are going to pour the alwa with ghee. Spread the ghee so that it covers the tray fully. 

Strain the mixture through a fine strainer and try and squeeze out al the juice from the leftover pulp.

Add the sugar, saffron and cardamom to this mixture.

Pour this in a heavy bottomed pan. On a medium flame, keep stirring this mixture,. 

Be prepared to be near the stove for a good 45 minutes. 

I've taken pictures every 10 minutes. So you can see the difference. 

Every 10 minutes add a generous ladle of ghee, when you reach around  40 minutes, you should be able to see the ghee oozing out of the alwa. This means, it's ready to be poured on the tray.

In the last 15 minutes, you will notice that the mixture starts bubbling and coming together. When you mix it, it should cling to the spoon. 

At this point, the alwa is done. 

Pour it out on the tray. 

Enjoy it hot! You will be able to cut it in pieces once it sets. 

This can be stored for at least a week, but be sure to microwave it a bit before eating for maximum taste. 

Kathrikai Gothsu

This is an easy to make side dish for idli, Dosai, Arisi upma and pongal.

And it's the best side dish for Idli! 

It's best if you can find the medium sized soft Indian brinjals. Otherwise an Italian eggplant that's soft to touch will work very well. 

You start with roasting the eggplant directly on fire. I've done them in the oven wrapped in aluminum foil when my apartment stove had electric coils. But have to say the charred taste of the eggplant is the best. So if you have a gas stove, please do them on the stove. I have a grill that I use only for this purpose! 

Make sure the Brinjal is cooked all over, cos if that's uncooked, it's going to taste bad.

To make gothsu for 2 people that love gothsu and eat more gothsu than idlies, You need:

Two really big and soft (Italian) eggplants, charred, peeled, and mashed with hand.

Oil-- 2 tsp

Mustard seeds -- 1/2 tsp

Green chili -- 4 or 5 

Tamarind -- lime sized 

Red chili -- 1

Curry leaves - few

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Asafoetida -- 1/4 tsp

If you have a kalchetti, it works very well. Otherwise an heavy bottomed vessel will work.

---> soak the tamarind in about a cup of warm water and let it sit

---> during this time, take out your kalchetti and revel in its beauty :) 

---> take a break and put the brinjals on a medium flame, you could put two on the same flame if you have a big stove or do it one by one.

--->Make sure to turn them around so they get charred all over.

---> keep aside and let cool and use this time again to admire the beauty of your kalchetti( if you have one) 

--->mash the tamarind and squeeze the pulp, and add some more water to this

---> scoop out the pulp from the charred brinjals and mash it and mix it with the tamarind 

--->break the chillis in to two and keep all the other things handy near the stove

You could chop them but it makes the gothsu super spicy. 

--->On a medium flame, add some oil in the kalchetti. Let it get hot. Once it's hot, add the mustard seeds. Let them sputter.

---> now add the chillies, curry leaves, hing, turmeric powder and reduce the flame and now add the tamarind brinjal mixture to the kal chetti

---> add some salt and let it come to one boil,

---> this should not be boiling too much..

---> make some super soft idlies or dosai and enjoy it :)

Oven Roasted Potatoes

One large Potato cut in cubes 

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp kara Podi (chili Powder)

1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

Two pinches of Perungayam (Asafoetida)

Pre heat the oven to 425F

Mix the oil, podi, salt, turmeric powder and Perungayam well. 

Toss the cubes in them and spread them on a tray.

Put them in for 15 minutes @ 425F and hi broil for about 6 minutes

Came across this article on making crispy potatoes. It is recommended that you par-boil the potatoes before you put them in the oven. Since I just made one potato and had it as soon as it was done, it was very crispy and not leathery at all. When I make a big batch of potatoes, I will try par-boiling them.

Thattai (a crunchy savory snack)

This is my favorite snack ever! Uses very simple ingredients but you won't be able to stop with one.

I have used Meenakshi ammal's Pachai Arisi Thattai recipe here.

Two main ingredients are Rice flour and Urad flour

Ready made rice flour is easily available everywhere now.

Urad flour is available too, if you don't find it, just dry toast some urad dal and let. lol, grind to a fine powder and run through a sieve.

I made two kinds today

Regular Thattai made with red chili powder. 

Makes 50 thattais (approx)

Rice flour - 2 cups

Urad Flour- 2 tbsp

Ghee- 2 tbsp

Salt - 3/4 tsp and a pinch

Red chili powder - 3/4 tsp

Water- 1 cup and two tbsp 

Chana dal (soaked for half hour) - 1 and 1/2 tbsp 

Curry leaves - 7 or 8

Oil- enough to deep fry

Start by sieving both the flours and the chili powder through a strainer or a sifter. Add the ghee, chili powder and salt, ghee, Chana dal and curry leaves. Mix it well. Add the water in and make it a moist dough. 

Cover it with a wet cloth so the dough won't get dry.

Heat the oil in a thick bottomed pan. If you have an electric fryer set the temperature to 400 deg.

Once the oil is hot you are ready to start making it.

Take a plastic sheet (I used a used ziploc bag)

Oil it well. Keep some water in a small bowl near by. 

Make about a dime sized ball from the dough. Dip your fingers in the water and flatten the dough to a round circular shape. Make a batch of 6 or 8 and slowly drop them one by one in the hot oil. 

After a minute or two, turn them and let them cook. The Thattai is ready when it is a nice Holden red in color and it makes a hard noise when you lift it with your ladle.

Repeat the same process until you run out of dough.

You can make a different variation of this using Black pepper. Coarse grind about 1 tbsp of black pepper in a mortar and use it instead of red chili powder. Everything else stays the same.

The ones on the left is made with black pepper. 

Happy Snacking!! 

KaraSev (Spicy Savory)

Kara Sev! 

This is a spicy kind of savory that tastes so good just by itself or with tea 

It is very crunchy and yummy!

This recipe is from Meenakshi Ammal's 'Samauthu Par'. 

The proportion of Kadala mavu (Chick Pea Flour)  to Arisi Mavu (Rice Flour) is 4:1

You need 

Kadala Mavu (Chick Pea Flour/ Besan) 2 cups 

Arisi mavu (Rice flour) 1/2 cup

Fennel Seeds 1 tsp

Black Pepper 1 tablespoon (more if you like spicier)

Red Chili 7 big ones 

Butter (melted) 1 table spoon

Salt 1 and 1/2 teaspoons 

Garlic cloves 2 (optional)

Water as needed

Oil to deep fry 

Method

Start by making a coarse powder of black pepper and red chillies in your mixer

Then make a paste of the garlic, you can add a bit of water to this. If there are any big pieces, remove them by hand so they won't get stuck and close the hole of the achu

Mix the dry stuff first and then add the fennel seeds, the salt and the spices

And then add the water, little by little to make a thick dough.

I also added a few drops of hot oil to the dough. 

Add some oil in a thick bottomed pan and keep on a med hi flame

Make sure the heat stays steady through out the process 

Pinch a small ball of dough in to hot oil to check if the oil is ready.

If the oil is hot enough, it should rise back  up to the top instantly.

You are now ready to start making 'kara sev'!

I used a 3 hole 'achu'  and just press the dough on to the hot oil.

Once it's in the oil, take a. Stainless steel ladle and break off the kara sev in to pieces 

This will make it crispier

And the Kara Sev is done when it turns golden brown and is 'silent' 

Remove and let cool 

For the measurement I used, it filled up a 6 cup box.

 

Manga Thokku / Raw Mango Pickle

This is one of my favorite pickle. Goes very well with plain curd rice! You need raw green mangoes for this. Takes less than 20 minutes to make at home. And way more healthier than any store bought pickle. 

I use a food processor to grate the mangoes. You could do it by hand too.

3 raw mangoes ------ grated

Sesame Oil -------- 6 tablespoons Oil for the last step

                   -------- 2 tsps oil in the beginning

Red Chili powder -----this depends on your spice level, I've used 6 tablespoons

Salt-------4 teaspoons more or  less

Perungayam(hing) 1/2 teaspoons

Vendaya Podi (fenugreek powder) 1 teaspoons

Mustard seeds ---- 1 tsp

Red Chili Powder -- 4 

In a kadai, low to med flame, add 2 tsp oil, once it gets hot, add the grated mangoes

Just spread the mangoes slowly so the oil coats over all of it

In about 5 minutes, you will notice the mangoes have wilted and lose some color

Keep stirring every 5 minutes

In 10 minutes, give it one more stir, and add some of the salt

It will keep cooking

In about 15 minutes, spread the mangoes flat in the kadai and split in to four and add the spices on top

 in a different vessel, add the rest of the oil, and let it get hot on a medium flame.

Add the mustard seeds, and once it starts bursting add the red chilies and once all the mustard seeds have tempered, pour this hot oil on to the mangoes and quickly spread the oil so it coats all over the mango mixture

Leave t on for 5 more minutes on a low flame and you will see the mangoes and oil mix well and the oil will come through the holes in your ladle. And it will also let some oil out. That means it's done. 

Enjoy this with good decent curd rice

Let cool in the kadai and once it's Ll cooled transfer in to a glass bottle and make sure water does not touch the pickle. Guard it well :)

And if you have some white rice put in the empty kadai and mix well and enjoy pickle rice :)

Papaya Salsa

It's as simple as can be.

I used a food processor cos I wanted to finish making it fast. You can dice everything and put it together too.

I used

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp of diced red onion

3/4 of an orange Serrano Pepper

1 handful of yellow cherry tomatoes

1 and 1/2 cups of cubed papaya

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp vinegar

Salt about 1/4 tsp (a little more of u need)

2 tsp chopped Cilantro 

Assemble your food processor

Start with the garlic 

Chop that

Then add each of the above one by one 

And pulse for a 10 secs

Garnish with chopped cilantro

Tastes great as a side for Nachos, Tacos, Butritos. 

Tip: i added a whole Serrano Pepper and it turned out a little more spicy than I expected it to be. Depending on the sweetness of the papaya, adjust the amount of the pepper and the amount if Lemon Juice. 

You can add half or 3/4 th of a regular tomato instead of the yellow tomatoes.

Tofu Lasagna

Total time 1 hour

Prep time 30 minutes

Oven time 30 minutes

+ 

Rest time 30 minutes atleast. 

There are a lots of versions of lasagna on the web. My daughter loves lasagna and is lactose intolerant. So I set about trying some recipes. 

I have to mention Anu Srinivasan here (http://oystersandlemons.wordpress.com/). Was talking to her and she suggested to add some almond milk to the tofu while making the Bechamel Sauce. I took her suggestion and tried making it the traditional way of making the sauce. Then I made some more changes to the recipe. 

My version of the Bechamel sauce doesn't involve the stove cos I thought no point in firing up the stove if I blend the tofu and milk in the food processor itself. Since it's all already cooked and it's going to go in the oven for 30 minutes, that is enough to get it nice and thick. So I will call it tofu Sauce

This is a kind of a mixture of many recipes. Pretty easy but a little time consuming. It takes about 25 minutes to make the vegetable sauce. 5 minutes to make the tofu sauce.

As a first step, boil the lasagna according to instructions on the box. I haven't tried the oven ready lasagna. I always use the ones that need to be boiled.

I made 12 strips for this recipe. You will use 11 approximately.  I put one extra if one breaks. 

It will be easier if you have a food processor or a hand blender or a regular blender.

For the vegetable sauce, you can use any veggies you want. I add mushrooms sometimes. My daughter loves celery so I always add that.  Today I have added

1 zucchini

4 stalks of celery

1/2 of Chinese Eggplant

2 cups of spinach leaves

5 tomatoes (2 beef steak tomatoes  and 3 Roma tomatoes)

1 Onion

6 cloves of garlic 

          +

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tsp of oregano

1/4 of paprika

1 tsp of sea salt

3 heaped tsp of tomato paste (optional)

All the vegetables have to chopped into small pieces so that it will be easy to eat the lasagna.

If you have a food processor, just chop the tomatoes and put it in and purée that.

In a heavy bottomed pan, on a medium to high flameadd the oil and when that heats up, add the chopped garlic and onion. In about 4 mins they should be getting translucent, now add the chopped Zuchchini, Eggplant and celery and keep stirring. After about four minutes add the chopped spinach and the salt. Let it all mix and stir for a minute. Now add the puréed tomatoes, and the paste. Mix it well and reduce the heat a bit. Add the oregano and paprika, mix well and let It simmer for 10 mins.

For the tofu Sauce

You need two packets of Firm tofu 

Some lactaid. (I have used almond milk also)

Bit of salt

Bit of crushed red pepper (so it won't be too bland)

Wash the food processor if you want your 'tofu sauce' to be white. 

Just drain the tofu, no need to completely drain

Chop them in to big pieces and add to the food processor

And while it's running add the lactaid, salt and crushed red pepper and run until it becomes thick and creamy. 

Your tofu sauce is ready!!!

Now you can start assembling!!

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

I have used 3 small Pyrex glass containers and one really small glass container. 

You can choose to make it in a bigger pan. I like to make it like this cos you end up having leftovers and this way you can just put it in the freezer. Once it's to room temperature that is. 

Since these containers are small I have cut the strips in to two.

For every Pyrex container you will use 6 cut strips.

Start with two spoons of sauce in the bottom

*Layer 2 strips, 2 spoons of sauce, 2spoons of tofu spread them*

Repeat

Repeat

On top I just put a bit of veggie shreds, they are lactose free.

Put all of them in the oven for 30 minutes. (I have already put one in the oven)

Let it rest for a good 45 minutes, it will be easier to cut the lasagna.

I guarantee that you won't miss the cheese. 

This recipe is lactose free!

It can be vegan is you use almond milk or soy milk instead of Lactaid.

And use Soy cheese instead of the lactose free cheese.

Cheese is optional.

I usually serve it with a nice homemade dinner roll :)

RibbonBakoda

 

(Ribbon Bakoda pictured with kesari)

Ribbon Bakoda is also called ribbon for obvious reasons! It's an easy to make snack. It's crunchy, salty and deep fried. Now how can it not taste great!

I followed the recipe from Meenakshi Ammal's 'Samaithu Paar' which translates to 'Cook and See'. It is a bible for Tambrahm Cooking.

Here goes!

You need

Oil to deep fry and this 

Gadget called achu for pushing the dough on to the oil. It's available for $15 dollars at any Indian store. It comes with different achus to make all kinds of snacks from the book!

I have two kinds, the one on the left is easier to handle. The one on the right is a traditional achu.

The dough you make has to be made a little dry but not too dry. 

You need:

2 cups Kadala Mavu(Besan/Chickpea flour)

1 cup Arisi Mavu (Rice flour)

1 1/4 tsp Salt

1 heaped tsp Kara Podi (Chili Powder)

3 pinches  Perungayam (Asafoetida)

1 tablespoons Ghee or Unsalted Butter

 

Put the salt and chili powder in 1/4 cup water and let the salt mix well in the water

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl

Add the salt and chili powder to this

Keep some extra water on hand and knead until the dough becomes a bit thick like puri dough

In a thick bottomed pan, add oil.

On a medium flame, let the oil become hot.

To check of the oil is ready insert a wooden spoon in, you should see bubbles coming out or put a small ball of dough in the oil and you should see it rise to the top. 

Keep the flame in the same temperature.

Put the dough in the achu and push some out in to the oil.

It's done when it's a nice golden brown all over. 

Makes a great evening snack!

In my house we also have it as a side for curd rice!! 

Tips

Make sure you have time to make the ribbon once the dough is done. 

Is the dough rests for a while the Bakoda might become oily

Monitor the oil temp through out. If the oil gets too hot then the ribbon will become black.